1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to receptacles and more particularly pertains to a hamper attachable to a back of a door for receiving laundry.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of receptacles is known in the prior art. More specifically, receptacles heretofore devised and utilized for the purpose of containing articles of clothing are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
For example, a clothes hamper is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,098,108 which includes a backboard configured and decorated to resemble a basketball backboard. Brackets support the backboard at the top end of a door and a hoop configured to resemble a basketball goal is supported on the backboard. The hoop, in turn, supports a mesh clothes receiving net that extends vertically downwardly therefrom. The lower end of the mesh net is normally closed by a draw string such that clothes may be received within the net for temporary storage.
A hamper is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,218,103 for collecting items such as soiled laundry which includes a cylindrical receptacle wall having a reception entrance at the top and a delivery port at the side. The delivery port may be selectively opened or closed by a cylindrical sleeve which overlies the receptacle wall and can be rotated relative thereto. A liner may be placed within the cylindrical receptacle and, upon being filled with the items placed therein, removed through the delivery port such that the items are neatly contained within the liner.
Another patent of interest is U.S. Pat. No. 4,057,309 which discloses a clothes hamper having a plurality of upper compartments mounted above a partition shelf, and a plurality of lower compartments mounted in the hamper below the partition for movement into and out of the hamper through a front wall opening, such that the associated laundry may be appropriately segregated for subsequent washing thereof.
Other known receptacles include U.S. Pat. No. 4,739,880, and Design U.S. Pat. No. 309,808.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not disclose a hamper attachable to a back of a door for receiving laundry that is dimensioned to fit between the door and an adjoining wall when the door is in an open position which includes a receptacle structure in which the front panel may take the form of either a rigid panel or a deformable fabric panel. Furthermore, none of the known prior art receptacles teach or suggest a spring supported movable wall for ejecting laundry from the hamper and a deodorant dispenser for spraying a mist of sanitary fluid onto the associated laundry.
In these respects, the door mounted hamper according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of receiving and containing laundry.